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Elon Musk’s cut-first, aim-later run through the federal government is predicated on the idea that the nation’s finances are in crisis and that it needs to drastically cut spending to recover. But at least one cut Musk’s team is planning will actually cost the government money, worsening the supposed fiscal crisis that the Trump administration […]

The Logoff is a daily newsletter that helps you stay informed about the Trump administration without letting political news take over your life. Subscribe here. Welcome to The Logoff. Today I’m focused on Donald Trump’s mixed messages on the fate of Medicaid, the low-income health insurance program that more than 70 million Americans depend on. […]

After a dramatic week that saw both the third anniversary of the war in Ukraine and an unprecedented flurry of diplomatic activity, it’s becoming possible to see what a real — if far from ideal — agreement to end the bloody conflict might look like. But to know whether an agreement is actually achievable or […]

The proper term for a Supreme Court session where the justices hear verbal presentations by lawyers is an “oral argument,” but Wednesday’s hearing in Ames v. Ohio Department of Youth Services hardly qualified as an argument. Everyone, on every side of the case, agreed that a strange rule governing employment discrimination suits in some parts […]

In early February, Texas health officials reported that measles was spreading among an insular religious community in Gaines County, Texas, where nearly 14 percent of schoolchildren have an exemption (granted in some states for reasons of conscience, including for religious beliefs) from the required childhood vaccinations. The disease has since been detected in a bordering […]

As our planet gets increasingly warmer, we’re seeing in real-time the myriad of ways our climate is changing: unbearably hot summers, extreme cold snaps, and more dangerous natural disasters. And when our environment changes, so do we — especially in regards to our health. Valley fever, a fungal disease that invades our lungs, is one […]

Vox reader Ben Kutcher asks: What happens to the money when I round up at the register? Are these real charities? Who gets credit for the donation? Is there some taxable benefit to companies that offer this? Do they have to provide transparency reports? If you’ve ever been at a grocery store checkout counter and […]

Every morning, when Trudi and Ben Shertzer head to their jobs at the Pittsburgh International Airport, they drop their son Hunter off at a brightly colored child care facility located in a converted flight terminal just a few minutes from the main entrance. Teachers at the child care center take care of their 2-year-old while […]

Will Donald Trump succeed in his long-held goal of weaponizing the Justice Department against his political enemies? Much of the answer will depend on the man he’s appointed to head the US Attorney’s Office in Washington, DC. That’s longtime conservative activist Ed Martin — or, “Eagle Ed Martin,” per his X handle. Martin has made […]

“Drain the swamp” has long been one of President Donald Trump’s signature slogans. But now that billionaire Elon Musk is orchestrating mass layoffs of federal workers, it’s not clear that rhetoric translates into popular policy. At town halls from Missouri to Georgia to Oklahoma, constituents of Republican lawmakers have shown up to protest Musk and […]

This story was originally published in The Highlight, Vox’s member-exclusive magazine. To get early access to member-exclusive stories every month, join the Vox Membership program today. At this particular moment, I’m feeling a little bad about myself. This profession I’ve chosen — and really, this life that I lead — relies so heavily on attention and metrics […]

This story was originally published in The Highlight, Vox’s member-exclusive magazine. To get early access to member-exclusive stories every month, join the Vox Membership program today. Humans have always tried to glimpse the future. Our methods have improved — from the stars and tarot cards to tremendously complex election forecasts. People love predictions, making them and reading […]

Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) underlings are powering his takeover of the government with a “hardcore” work ethic that sacrifices sleeping for around-the-clock grinding.  Musk boasted that they are working long hours, even over weekends because their “opponents” take that time off. They moved sofa beds into the Office of Personnel […]

President Donald Trump is no stranger to conspiracy: He rose to political prominence by touting the racist lie that Barack Obama was born in Kenya. His team isn’t either: Take Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s longtime baseless conviction that childhood vaccines cause autism or the billionaire Elon Musk’s promotion of the 2016 “Pizzagate” conspiracy […]

Tens of thousands of federal workers have been fired recently, and more may be in danger of being let go. Umair Irfan — a climate change, energy policy, and science correspondent for Vox — has been specifically focused on layoffs looming over the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) of late. His reporting presents a […]

On Wednesday, the Supreme Court will hear its first employment discrimination case since President Donald Trump took power and began a fairly comprehensive assault on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs in government and private employment.  The case, known as Ames v. Ohio Department of Youth Services, reads like it was generated for the very […]

This story was originally published in The Highlight, Vox’s member-exclusive magazine. To get early access to member-exclusive stories every month, join the Vox Membership program today. Denise Poirier was facing a pivotal moment. After teaching in Maine public schools for more than three decades, she was preparing to leave her career for what would likely be a […]

Your Mileage May Vary is an advice column offering you a new framework for thinking through your ethical dilemmas and philosophical questions. This unconventional column is based on value pluralism — the idea that each of us has multiple values that are equally valid but that often conflict with each other. Here is a Vox […]

Silicon Valley breeds visionary ideas, and with them, communities of dreamers. But not all those ideas and communities are benevolent. It can be hard to separate harmful movements from aspirational ones, but it’s easy to exploit those who mistake one for the other.  Throughout tech culture, this exploitation frequently generates dogmatic thinking and rigid adherence […]

Government websites have undergone massive changes since President Donald Trump returned to office. Some of the changes are routine — like swapping out the current president and vice president for their predecessors on the White House’s official site. But other changes go much further. Several sites — like USAID.gov, ReproductiveRights.gov, and the Spanish-language version of […]

Who hasn’t heard the phrase “ignorance is bliss” a thousand times? Like all cliches, it sticks because it’s rooted in truth, but it’s worth asking why ignorance can be so satisfying. If you read the history of philosophy, you don’t find all that much interest in the delights of ignorance. Instead, you hear a lot […]

One of the big challenges of reporting on the new administration is that it’s hard to figure out who’s really calling the shots. Take AI. In his comments to world leaders at the AI Action Summit in Paris last week, Vice President JD Vance laid out one view of where the Trump administration should go […]

Welcome to The Logoff. Today I have an update on the fight over your tax data, where the Trump administration has backed off a plan to give a DOGE staffer access to ultra-sensitive tax information. Wait, what did the White House want? The White House wanted the IRS to allow a DOGE team member to […]

The weather forecasts you see on TV or the severe storm alerts you get from your apps are powered by a federal science agency that’s in line for some of the most drastic cuts proposed by the Trump administration so far.  The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) employs about 12,000 staffers around the world, […]